HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-02-26 Public Comment - C. Quisenberry - Opinion on Mayor_ City Manager RelationshipFrom:Caitlin Quisenberry
To:Bozeman Goverment Study Commission
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Opinion on Mayor/ City Manager Relationship
Date:Monday, March 2, 2026 9:59:06 PM
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Good evening,
I recently heard from two government study commissioners on the review process. I wanted to
give my feedback in regards to the Mayor and City Manager relationship. I used to work inBig Sky at the Chamber of Commerce and was able to work very closely with the Resort Tax
District there. The relationship between the locally elected board members and the executivedirector closely resembles that of the City Commission and City Manager position. I currently
work at the County and see the relationship between the Commissioners and the CountyAdministrators which is also similar. In both instances, I have been able to see up close how
the blend of leadership between elected and hired has been very effective for getting big tasksaccomplished. Before the Resort Tax Board hired an executive director, they were too busy to
be proactive and were only able to react. The hired director was able to offer stability andinstitutional knowledge across the various board terms and now the organization is much more
effective at using the tax dollars to build a stronger Big Sky community. At the County, I seethe difficulty between hired staff and the elected officials in various roles. It is a tricky
relationship for staff to have an elected boss. I see the struggle in multiple departmentsbecause they are not beholden to the same rules or accountability of the organization. The only
way to correct the actions of an elected official is through an election recall process and that isdisruptive to the will of the people and the efficiency of the organization. Hired City Managers
can be put on a performance improvement plan or removed like what was done with the lastCity Manager in Bozeman. They are not only the executors of the Commissions' vision, they
are also the leader of an organization and have to be accountable to the City Staff as well. Ithink only having a mayor would lessen the effectiveness of the organization to accomplish
the Commissions' vision as set forth by the electorate.
Thank you for your hard work on this and thank you for taking my comment.
Caitlin Quisenberry